What’s in a video?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video should be worth ten thousand. A video is a way to tell a story, specifically, your story. It’s a way to share your viewpoint about a particular issue or to let potential customers and clients get to know you and your business.

Video can seem daunting, and it’s a perfectly understandable reaction. Not everybody has the “camera bug.” Some people have no desire to be the center of attention. It’s even worse when it’s just them and their webcam or Flip camera. In those cases, they truly are the center of attention. Everything is up to them. They’ll make or break the video.

If you’re one of those people, you’re simply going to have to drum up some courage. You’ll have to rely on Nike’s adage, “Just do it!” You have to start somewhere. If you don’t, you’ll never start.

You also have to be willing to fail. You’re going to fail. Your first videos probably will be atrocious. They’ll be so atrocious that you’ll either cry or laugh. Both reactions will give you the permission you need in order to create another atrocious video and another one until you suddenly create one that isn’t quite as awful and is worthy of being placed online.

You then continue to make videos. You discover your voice. You find yourself taking videos in one take instead of ten. You allow the mistakes to remain, not because you don’t care but because you want people to know you. You want people to know that you make mistakes, too, and that you keep going despite making them.